And now all these people are going to get Nostalgia and drive the laser beast prices up even more... And now I also get to feel the pain of Minimate collectors trying to find exclusives all over the world..

_________________Fastest know derailer of threads in the know universe...expanded or otherwise.

Takara is putting out something in the "Battle Beasts" vein that seems to be a card/dice game of some sort. Those may be blind boxed but you can order them from import sources per actual figure so that shouldn't affect us much.

DST is also seemingly putting out a Battle Beasts line, but theirs' is apparently a MiniMates offshoot.

I don't think the 2 lines are the same thing.If I am wrong, I apologize. But with what I am seeing/hearing, there are going to be options that should satisfy all of us.

I don't think the 2 lines are the same thing. If I am wrong, I apologize. But with what I am seeing/hearing, there are going to be options that should satisfy all of us.

No, you are absolutely correct. One has nothing to do with the other.

The DST effort is an all-new line taking it's name and inspiration from the classic toys. Hasbro allowed the trademark on the name Battle Beasts to lapse. DST nabbed it.

The Takara line appears to hold truer to the classic designs.

But, both seem to be coming out around the same time meaning that I'll need to sell a kidney. Throw in the possibility I may be living in New Zealand by the time these lines hit...and...oy...I don't even want to think about that yet...

_________________Be sure to check out my blog here at AFi: toys, games and general nonsense:

I'm liking the sculpts on the Takara Beast Saga figures more than the recycled Minimate bodies of the DST "Battle Beasts" (which, aside from sharing a name, apparently have nothing to do with the vintage Battle Beasts line whatsoever). I think the Beast Saga figures have pretty much stolen the thunder from these new Battle Beasts.

If DST really want their version of the Battle Beasts to make a splash, they have to use the trademark in a way that can't be too easily contrasted to what Takara is doing, and do it really well. Say for example on a larger scale action figure line. DST could commission the Four Horsemen to reissue some of their Seventh Kingdom figures under the Battle Beasts name. Have them sculpt a new breastplate or two, slap on new paint schemes for the figures, give them new names, release them in limited quantities - voila! - instant 7" scale Battle Beasts. Sure, they may not represent actual characters from IDW's new comic, but think of them as "Concept Figures," just for testing the market's reaction to Battle Beasts in this format. Heck, if they prove popular enough, maybe IDW can write them into the comic, and the figures could be used to gauge interest in seeing the actual characters from the comic turned into 7" action figures.